


Smoke, Mirrors

by morphogenesis



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Happy Ending, M/M, Mystery, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-02-12 22:10:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21483643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphogenesis/pseuds/morphogenesis
Summary: Junpei and Phi have a private investigation firm and no clients until one day they get two separate calls from newlyweds Aoi and Light, each asking them to spy on the other. Of course, neither party is one hundred-percent telling the truth about their reasons. Junpei and Phi would question the ethics of the situation, but if they did there would be fewer free steak dinners and less trust fund money.
Relationships: Kurashiki Akane/Tenmyouji Junpei, Light Field/Kurashiki Aoi, Phi & Tenmyouji Junpei
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a silly idea that came about from spitballing with friends, and I actually wrote it. Follow your bliss, everyone. 
> 
> Quick notes: Fear not, Aoilight get their happy ending and really do care about each other, they're just dramatic. And doctors in Japan are very strict about weight gain during pregnancy so this fic isn't randomly fatshaming. This is post-canon.

Phi eyed the beer glass to Aoi’s left, willing him to take a drink so she could follow his lead. She only knew him as the man behind finances and business at Crash Keys and expected formal dining etiquette ruled, despite their casual clothes. The business card clutched in her left hand reminded her of what she was representing, but again she had to hurry up and wait for him to slowly reach into his card holder, withdraw one, and offer it to her across the table. The exchange was more contact than she’d had with him during her tenure at Crash Keys, and now they met as private investigator and prospective client.

“Mr. Suguro…?” She double-checked the English translation side of the card to be sure she read it correctly. Apparently she sat across from Ryouta Suguro, representative of a trust bank.

“Who were you expecting?” Aoi said, raising an eyebrow like it was a stupid question. “Aren’t you Phi?”

“You know my name?” He used to refer to her and Sigma interchangeably, either to annoy Junpei or because he didn’t particularly care. “Forget it, pleasure to meet you.” She reached for the beer pitcher and offered it to him even though his glass was full, and he took her hint to take a sip. 

She gratefully took a long drink to escape the awkward start and then jumped right in: “Thank you for considering doing business with our agency, _sir_,” she said in Japanese.

“English, please,” Aoi said in a tone that suggested he wasn’t trying to be accommodating but instead that he didn’t want to struggle through a slow, stilted conversation with her textbook Japanese and muddled accent. It wasn’t her fault Junpei was a terrible teacher. “Just act normal, you’re making this weird.”

She raised her glass. “Cheers.” 

He clinked his against hers perfunctorily. 

“What do you want?”

Before answering, Aoi called a waitress over and judging by the length of his order planned on covering the whole table. Phi smelled grilled meats somewhere behind them and her stomach growled. When Aoi invited her to a nicer restaurant than Junpei took the entirety of Investigation to to celebrate the end of the long mission, and to say goodbye as he and Phi were leaving the department, she knew Aoi either wanted her to kill someone or risk her own life. 

The reality was worse: “So I just got married, yeah?”

Phi nodded benignly, pretending she didn’t gossip with Junpei on the goings-on in the Kurashiki household. The amount of time and alcohol she wasted listening to him complain about dreading New Year’s with the hurricane that was Aoi and Light in the same house or wondering what they saw in each other alone… 

Aoi continued, watching her for a moment before saying, “What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this table.”

“Unfortunately, as a detective I make it a habit to share everything I hear,” she said dryly. “Of course it doesn’t, and?”

“I don’t think I can trust him. In fact, I think I’ve got proof he’s doing the worst thing he could do.”

"Cheating?"

"Worse: stealing my money." 

Phi should've known financial infidelity was a cardinal sin in his eyes. The wedding band on his finger was shiny and classic and Phi thought Aoi could afford to have a fiscally lascivious husband. But hey, free dinner. The meat smelled to die for and Aoi was paying. “You are a consummate businessman.” She took another sip. “And the Higashino Detective Agency likes that. What do you want us to do?” They were still sorting out the business pitch; she and Junpei had worked in the shadows for so long she realized they’d forgotten how to sound neutral and informative. Boring.

“What are you talking about, Argentina is doing terrible this season,” Aoi said with an affected slur and gesture, and Phi wondered if he was more shaken by this than she thought when she felt the waitress brush by her and load their table down with dishes that covered the entire flavor spectrum. She fought the urge to snatch up the biggest-looking pieces from the main dishes and stuff her face. Junpei would love that review from their prospective client.

“Japan isn’t doing any better,” she said, following the soccer lie until the server left. “Or really: what do you think we can do for you? Just print out the statements or whatever and ask him what he’s thinking.”

“You’re a great saleswoman. I would do that if I wanted to, genius.” Despite the food before him, Aoi looked at it with little interest and only served her. “This situation needs a little finesse from someone who’s outside of us.”

Phi put a juicy-looking piece of beef in her mouth and almost moaned as it melted on her tongue. Forget all the headaches of having to actually follow the law and do more paperwork now; she loved the private sector. “I’m listening. Give me something to go on.” She chewed and swallowed another piece in the silence. “Do you think you married a gold digger?”

Aoi told her the next part slowly, pausing a few times like he was both searching for the right words and struggling to parse the situation as he described it. “No, he’s a trust fund kid and he makes his own money on top of that. We’ve got separate accounts but know each other’s passwords. Share credit, though. We travel a lot.” He shrugged. “So normally I don’t need to go into his account and vice-versa, but last week he changed all his passwords, including the ones to our shared cards. Doesn’t tell me why, just to ‘remember our arrangement.’” He considered the food and took a half-hearted bite. “He really talks like that all the time, it gets old. Anyway, we fight, I get back into the credit cards and see three are maxed and the other is almost there. That’s almost thirty-fucking-thousand USD, and I didn’t break the double-digits.”

Phi was finding it difficult to sympathize with someone who could casually discuss thirty-thousand dollars worth of debt as if it were annoying instead of nauseating.“Where was it all going?”

“‘Business expenses—’ flights, cabs, hotels, food, all that. Did you know harp maintenance is expensive?” He attacked his plate for a moment, looking unlike a professional with one cheek bulging with food. After swallowing he continued, “But the biggest thing was a cash advance and penalties for not paying it back. And he won’t say anything about where it went.”

“Go back—what was your arrangement?” That was a weird way to phrase it.

“His business, his money. He pays most of it out of pocket, and what goes on the card he pays back as soon as possible. Same with mine, and we don’t tell each other how to run things.” Aoi mindlessly stirred his soup. “Honestly he’s always been crap with money. It’s why I locked everything down before we got married.” He sighed. “This happened before, and I bailed him out but I said I’d tear him a new one if it happened again.”

“So...he knows you’ll be unhappy, for some reason he either can’t or won’t pay it back, and he tries to preemptively lock you out to avoid an awkward conversation.” Phi leaned forward. “He clams up when you ask for a reason, and you kick him to the curb?”

“In so many words. He left two days ago for America. He has a tour for a new album, and I haven’t heard from him. It’s as good a time as ever to have someone shadow him while I try to figure out what else he hasn’t told me.” 

“I’m a great tail.”

"So I’ve heard. I need you to tail him in D.C. and see if he's where he says he is. Find anything unusual he might be throwing cash at. And one thing."

"What?" 

"You're not working for me—you're working for Suguro. I don't want Junpei knowing about this." He shook his head. “It would be too much for them right now to worry about me.”

Phi hesitated—she and Junpei started their little agency with the promise to always be honest with each other, and once she made a promise and meant it, that was that. But at the same time, they had bills. They were running out of money and Junpei had met the maximum limit of loans he could take from Crash Keys. They’d taken his departure hard, if Phi read between the lines correctly. "And if I find something you don't like?"

Aoi didn't look up from putting grilled squid in his mouth. His chewing and swallowing seemed purposefully long. "I'll do whatever I want with the information. Nobody needs to know how I got it." His eyes focused past her, like she was a blip on the horizon instead of right in front of him.

"Alright. I've got time." She sipped her soup. She suddenly felt overdressed in the blazer Diana sent her because she never quite fit into womenswear here. Junpei was adamant she needed to hide her forearm tattoo at all times, and he hinted for a natural hair color and higher-cut shirts. The only thing she did was follow the dress code. All she had to do was roll up her sleeves to see the Ancient Greek on her inner forearm: 'A handful of earth is not heavy,' from _Antigone_. Even bitter work could be accomplished a handful at a time. "I need extra money for risking my job security."

"Talk about that later. Eat now." When Aoi lifted his drink, the wedding ring caught her eye. He wore it on the right hand. She wondered if hiring her was a formality before the end, or a Hail Mary pass at saving something he cared about.

**

"Really? You'd think his wife would go somewhere closer if she just wanted to blow money." Junpei looked at her plane ticket again. "Ginza at least.”

Phi took her boarding pass back and Junpei looked surprised rather than affronted. "I'm just going where he's paying." Phi knew the fewer ‘facts’ she gave up front the fewer contradictions she'd worry about later. The biggest lie, after who her client was, was that the client had an errant wife instead of husband. She leaned back in her chair and looked over her desk again. She had her own desk now, rather than being forced to poach some space at the edge of Junpei’s desk in _his_ office space because he was her boss and he could avoid giving her furniture if he wanted to. Their business cards both bore the title ‘Partner.’ She had arrived.

She had arrived and yet Junpei was still playing with the Newton’s cradle on her desk, watching the little silver balls on the ends move even though the middle row stayed stationary. When she pulled it out of his reach so he’d pay attention to her, he grabbed the Rubik’s cube instead and kept talking as he tried to solve for red. "What do you think she's doing in D.C.?"

"My guess? He doesn't want to admit to himself she's cheating. She went to school there and she might still have someone on her mind. And if I had a rich husband who'd rather hire detectives than talk to me, maybe I'd justify an international love affair too."

“Be careful with making up a story before you get to know all the players,” he said. He frowned at the cube. “Come on, you little bastards—hey!”

Phi had grabbed it from him and went to work, working through the algorithmic solution as she went until one side was completely red. She held it up with one hand and pointed to the cube with the other, smirking. “What are you gonna do without me?”

“Do my own work, smartass.” Junpei finally got off the corner of her desk and walked to the small window above his own desk, probably looking at the Lawson across the street. Phi suspected he chose to run the business out of this flat because it was cheap, inconspicuous for the area, and had quick access to fried chicken. "Nothing as scandalous as yours, though. How long will you be gone?" 

"A week. I think that's all I'll need to get a grip on what she's doing that Suguro's so afraid of."

He turned to look at her and for a moment he looked skeptical until he shook his head. "Hmm. If you say so. Call me if you need me."

"I'll try not to." Phi looked at the time on her phone. “You missed your train.”

“I did?” He checked his own phone and swore, then put it back in his pocket. “She knows where I am if she needs me.” Junpei started to bounce his leg unconsciously; Phi wouldn’t ask. He wasn’t forthcoming about his personal life lately, although not because they were bound up in formalities and professionalism—they’d both seen each other wasted far too many times to pretend they were just boss and subordinate before leaving Crash Keys to start Higashino. (At least once at a bar Junpei put a hand on her shoulder and went, “Hey, is she your type?” When she said, “No, is that guy?” in return he stared for a moment before saying “I don’t like skinny guys,” loud enough that people turned.)

A few months ago, he’d come into the office after some time away and during pre-work small talk dropped that Akane was pregnant like he was saying he wanted curry for dinner that night. That was the same time he became protective of and obsessed with his phone, and started leaving at the exact same time every night no matter where they were in discussion. Phi didn’t think he was unhappy with the situation—once she caught him browsing nursery furniture online and another time she found a long list of name ideas he’d written on the back of a folder she needed. It was just odd to watch him taper off talking about something so huge, to the point where she wasn’t able to fully gauge how he felt about it.

“Hey, Junpei?” Phi stopped trying to solve for green and set the cube down as they looked at each other across the room. “You’re married. What would it take for you to hide something big from Akane?”

“There’s no point in comparing me and Akane with other couples.”

“I know, just pretend you’re normal for a second.”

“Well...the big one is that my wife would be disappointed in me.” He sat down in his chair and became very interested in rolling a pen between the desktop and his palm. “That would be worse than her leaving—knowing that I failed her and she’d lost all respect for me.”

Phi pondered his answer, and the way he looked contemplative. “I wonder if that’s universal.”

Rather than answering, he stood up and shut his laptop. “Do you want a drink?”

“No, early flight.”

“Well, let me walk you to the train.” 

He did and she thought about when they were younger and barely knew each other and the world was full of shadows and dangerous people, when the mundane struggles of everyday relationships didn’t exist to them.

**

Junpei got home late; nobody noticed. Akane had fallen asleep with the fan blowing directly on her on her sofa. Her hair was still wet and stuck to her cheek like stray kelp. Junpei debated brushing it off but she'd grumble at him if he woke her up even accidentally. When he moved toward her, he stepped on a dried-out sheet mask and made a face. Then she murmured and shifted in her sleep, moaning when she couldn't get comfortable and he smiled and plucked the mask off the floor.

The light was on in Aoi's room, but the door was shut and he hadn't greeted Junpei when he came in. Junpei wasn't sure what he did lately; he'd come back from a recent visit with his bride spitting mad but only said it was ‘more of the same’ when they asked. Junpei wasn't sure how they survived Christmas. 

Aoi'd been distant and less insistent on hovering over Akane this past week. (Akane didn't mind that part.)

Junpei knew he should take a bath and go to sleep. He was still turning over what he and Phi discussed, and as he looked at Akane then at Aoi's bedroom door down the hall, the new melancholy bothered him more. Secrets. Everyone had some, most mundane, some world-ending, even if it was just their own private worlds.

Looking at the closed door again, Junpei wondered what Aoi was hiding, or what Light thought he was that justified him approaching Junpei for work. 

"My husband has me under surveillance; find evidence of it." Light had said over the phone today like he was requesting a carryout order.

Junpei told him it wasn't that easy; that he might not find a thing if it even existed, but he still agreed to think about it. He hadn't gotten around to telling Phi...or Akane. He was still mulling over whether to back out and wish Light good luck. Junpei didn’t want to make things even more awkward until he was sure he would say yes.

Leaving Akane, he checked Aoi's jacket on its hook and dug into the pockets. Aoi had a small pen and paper planner on him, and sometimes, unlike his phone, he forgot to carry it around. Junpei found the small hardbound book and took it into his room to skim while lying in bed. Opening it to the current day, the 30th of May, he saw neat calendar squares with tiny notes: 'C's birthday 6/18 (new clothes, hair appt, idol tix);' 'L's out (with an arrow drawn from this week until the end of June);' 'A. doctor's appt 6/3.' The page was crowded and Junpei had to squint to see the note for last night: 'Dinner 6pm.' 

Junpei had been in the office; he'd need to corroborate Aoi’s absence with Akane. When Junpei got in last night he'd found her eating shortcake in front of the TV instead of a cooked meal, but that by itself didn't mean much. The planner didn't say much more; Aoi may have been hiding anything truly incriminating on his phone. Junpei would need a miracle to get that away from him. Dinner at 6 was the best starting point, then.

Junpei shook the planner but no business cards conveniently fell out. He returned it to Aoi's coat pocket and felt around for a business card holder but froze when Akane stirred behind him and croaked, "Junpei?"

He turned quickly and approached her. "Yeah. You okay?"

She rubbed her stomach and shook her head. "Cramps." Braxton Hicks contractions. She'd started having them last week and they were infrequent but maddening for her. She tensed and held her breath, exhaled through closed teeth. Junpei got her into bed and sat with her for a while, holding her hand.

"Think you're gonna be okay?"

"Yes, just—" she gasped and grimaced. When she could speak again, it was to mumble swear words. They sat in the dark for a while longer. "Can you get my book? It's on the sofa."

He nodded and retrieved a copy of Messages from Water by Masaru Emoto. She'd read this one before, fascinated by the theory that water molecules could retain their own memory and be affected by the human mind's influence over them. The mind's power to influence the course of history and defy every known law of physics was why she was in the next room, their baby safe inside her and sustained by her still-beating heart. 

Junpei squeezed the book. Emoto said water was the ‘blueprint for our reality,’ and that must also apply to the water of the womb.

When he returned, Akane asked him to read it to her where she left off. The bookmark was a business card, but one of his own—no, Phi's.

"Huh, she's everywhere. She gave you her new number?"

"No, niichan gave this to me because I couldn't find a bookmark." 

Junpei studied the card but nothing was suspicious about it. Except for the fact that Aoi had it, and the same week Phi had an anonymous client that was taking her out of the way the exact same time Aoi's husband was out of town, and to the exact same city. 

"Phi..." he started to say but stopped himself. Ranting about her wasn't going to help his wife feel better. 

"I didn't know he was familiar with her," Akane added, and when Junpei looked at her she glanced at him briefly like she did when they had a secret. "I don't know what he does anymore." She put a hand on her belly again. "If he’s struggling, I don't think he wants my help. Junpei, if there's something you can do, you will right?"

"I will." He kissed her forehead. "Promise."

He stayed with her until she fell asleep, smoothed the blanket over her, and then went out to tidy up, turn off the fan...and check the coat one more time. The business card holder in Aoi’s pocket was silver, of some weight, and held something inside Junpei was hesitant to discover. Either it was boring and mundane and he had to feel guilty, or he couldn’t take back what he knew. He put it into his pocket, its bulk unnoticeable in his jeans, and went to Aoi’s bedroom door.

Junpei knocked and nobody answered. He knocked louder and longer until a chair thudded inside and the door whipped open. He smiled like a pleased, devious little brother. Aoi looked every part the older brother who wanted to strangle him for interrupting his studying. His headphones were askew, one ear covered but rapidly slipping down his neck, and he shook his bangs out of his face as he muttered, “What?”

“How were things today?”

Aoi pulled his headphones down and adjusted them on his neck, pulling slightly on his sleeping tank, exposing his collarbones. He filled the doorway enough to prevent Junpei from getting more than a quick glance at the bedroom behind him. His desk was cluttered and a TV was on the far wall, movies on disc on a shelf underneath it. Another shelf was crammed with books so the owners had started piling more atop the row. The only real difference between this and anywhere Aoi occupied was he’d made space on the floor for another futon for his husband. He washed both of them every Sunday and tonight at least had put it down next to his own with a body pillow on top of it. Aoi tilted his body into Junpei’s line of sight. “Good. Doc says the girls are fine.” He scratched the back of his head. “She cried because he told her to stop gaining weight, though.”

For a second, Junpei’s heart swelled up with that warm, effervescent rush at the reminder he was having a little girl. When Akane told him in the doctor’s waiting room, he’d gasped and went ‘Yes!’ quietly, before remembering himself and shuffling in place while Akane giggled at him. “So you bought her a cheesecake on the way home?”

Aoi’s eyes shifted one way and then the other. “Takoyaki. But we walked around the park after.”

“Some midwife you are.” Junpei flicked his shoulder. “Thanks for taking her. Just wanted to catch up. Worked late.” He fought to keep from biting his tongue with the right side of his teeth, a nervous habit when he lied. “You guys have Phi’s info if you need me, right?”

“Duh.”

“And her card as a backup?”

“No, don’t need it,” Aoi lied as smooth as mercury rising in a thermometer, escalating the situation to what Junpei feared would be an ignition point in the near future. “Why are you worrying so much?”

“I can’t help it, can I?” Junpei laughed. 

Aoi flicked his forehead but smiled gently. “You two are gross. Gimme the card if it’ll help.”

Junpei cupped his pocket. “Sure. I’ll do that. Talk tomorrow before I go?”

“Pass. I’m gonna crash as soon as he finally calls me.”

“So, see you in the morning.”

“Shut up,” Aoi said without venom and shut the door in Junpei’s face. 

Junpei didn’t sigh so much as open his mouth without even the energy to exhale. He went into the bathroom, ran the sink, and fished out Aoi’s card holder. When Junpei opened it, the cards fanned out like a neat fortune telling spread. Junpei used a finger to pluck at them and flip through the aliases he knew, until he found a new dark blue card at the back of the stack:

Ryouta Suguro, representative of a trust bank. Phi’s mystery client. Light’s paranoid husband. Junpei’s brother-in-law and person of interest all in one.

“Aoi,” Junpei said quietly, because what else was there to say?

**

One New Year’s Eve, Junpei was eating toshikoshi soba on the balcony to escape the Fields-Kurashiki crowd inside when Aoi stormed out, threw the sliding glass door shut behind him, and blurted out, “What the fuck is wrong with him?!”

Junpei popped a slice of fish cake into his mouth and waited for Aoi to go on and on about his romantic choices and why was he still with this man. He hoped Aoi didn’t go on until midnight and drown out the bells they would be able to hear from a local temple. That was always Junpei’s favorite part as a kid. 

Aoi sat down beside him, legs folded so one was under him and the other was bent upright, and groaned. “He picks now to do this? In front of everyone?” In one hand he was clutching an envelope so hard it creased into a semicircle.

Junpei slurped his noodles and said with his mouth full, “He does the same things he always does when you two are together?” Argue about semantics, make blunt remarks, ruin Junpei’s birthday dinner... “Go to the shrine with us tomorrow and pray for a better love life.”

Aoi’s glare petered out into a wounded expression before he held the envelope out, its note tucked under the flap. “Look at this.”

Junpei resented having to stop eating to do so. He’d had Aoi’s phone thrust at him one too many times while drunk to see whatever latest argument they were having, and he expected more of the same inside this pretty, hefty New Year’s greeting card. 

Junpei opened it and saw a few neat typed lines: _I have to break tradition and give this to you tonight. For my last act of this year, I’d like to ask you to marry me._ “Holy shit.”

“I know,” Aoi said softly, not looking at him. They sat in silence for a moment looking at the lights below them, listening to celebratory friends walking to and from home.

“So you ran out here instead of talking to him?”

“What the hell else am I gonna do?”

Junpei handed the card back and returned to his soup, dispensing wisdom in between slurps. “You either start the new year single or engaged. You said you didn’t wanna propose but you don’t...not want to be married either. So what are you gonna do? Decide before you turn into a pumpkin at midnight.”

Aoi tore off one of the corners of the card, and slowly twisted the paper until it bent and threatened to rip in two. He held it between his hands as he pondered the city before them. “Well I guess I’m getting married.”

The first bell of the New Year sounded, and as they started to sync up Aoi relaxed his grip, folded the card although it stayed open as a steamed clam, and stood up. When he looked at Junpei, Junpei held a finger to his own lips and nodded to the open glass door.

Light stepped onto the balcony and turned his head towards Aoi. Junpei cleared his throat and went to leave them to whatever final decision was to be made, and at the time the bells agreed with him that it was time for a change.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who read! <3 Here is some Slightly Softer Boys for you.

In the end the Fields came to Crash Keys, bringing the SOIS agent and maybe part-time secret mummy Alice with them, spurred by the knowledge Clover and Alice brought back with them after SHIFTing from the future. Crash Keys had never made overtures towards them before that, thinking their roles in SOIS were where they were meant to be in the grand design, so their request to join them was a surprise. For everyone except Akane; she reacted to the news as if Aoi told her the sun was going to rise tomorrow. 

Junpei hadn’t seen them in ages and fell right back into things with Clover, and though Akane was hopeful Clover never really warmed up to her or Aoi, the damage after the Ambidex Game too deep.

Her brother was the opposite and formed some kind of grudging respect for Akane, which turned into real respect as they spent time together outside of work. They had similar taste in books and academia and as a favor Akane once read his unpublished manuscript and gave her thoughts. 

The Fields started joining them on nights out and that brought him into proximity with Aoi. Slowly distrust turned to bickering and then to banter. Junpei didn’t see it coming; one night he, Aoi, and Light went out and it ended with Junpei watch Light vomiting in an alley and the other held his hair back. 

“Hold on, hold on,” Aoi said and handed him a handkerchief. “You okay?”

Light spluttered before nodding and wiping his mouth.

“Liar. Why didn’t you tell me you were a lightweight?”

“I’m not.” He fell asleep on Aoi in the cab and Aoi didn’t push him off. He and Junpei helped Light walk up the stairs to their building and Junpei left them sitting on the couch close enough to touch.

He overheard laughter from the living room, a half-hearted ‘I think we’ve had enough,’ running water, and then a makeout session on the couch. In the morning they were equal parts chummy and awkward but that night Akane walked in on them again. At least Aoi had a hobby now, she told Junpei, still blushing.

The difference in the sisters’ reactions was night and day; Akane was teasing her brother about a wedding and Clover changed the subject if it came up. Junpei kept his nose in his own business, assuming with the hot and cold relationship it would fizzle out eventually and then the workplace would be a different flavor of awkward. 

Clover complained to him once and then stopped when it became clear that while he sympathized he wasn’t going to argue against it either. After the engagement party incident, she put on her best dress and biggest smile for the wedding and she and Junpei took a picture together that was pinned on his bedroom wall, among the myriad ones of his and Akane’s friends.

Another picture of himself, the Kurashiki siblings, and the Field siblings was there too, the newly married couple holding up their linked hands and the other three looking happy for them as could be. It was a nearly perfect representation of their hope for the future.

After they married, Light was bent on Aoi moving in with him until the day Akane fell down the stairs of their apartment building. She’d been feeling woozy one second and the next was sprawled out on the landing, looking scattered and weak.

“Akane!” Junpei called, jumping and skipping steps to be at her side. Aoi held her head in case she’d hurt her neck, his husband called an ambulance, and Junpei held her hand and tried to keep her still. Everyone kept her calm despite her confusion. At one point Light called her ‘Dear’ and put a hand on her shoulder and she smiled, so he won even more points with Junpei that day.

At the hospital the doctors diagnosed her with sinusitis, a minor concussion, and a serious case of ‘being nine weeks pregnant.’ The baby was tough and safe inside Mom, not even a bit of damage and Junpei and Akane held hands and sniffled with happiness for their good fortune. 

Junpei sat by her bedside while the other two men stood outside the curtain, talking quietly because they thought he was still asleep like Akane was.

“What am I gonna do?” Aoi said.

“You?”

“Yes! I can’t move out now, they’re going to need my help for at least a year, maybe two.” It had been a point of contention, like when to actually get married, but they were both happy when they came to an agreement. Aoi had already started to box up his room, a sign of plans achieved and things to come. He jokingly complained that he wasn’t looking forward to how long his new husband hogged the shower and midnight harp practice. (Light was quick to point out Aoi never slept and often accidentally woke him up because he was muttering to himself about work; Aoi elbowed him in the ribs.)

“Why don’t I stay with you?”

“Really?” Aoi was surprised and Junpei could picture him scratching the spot above his ear and his eyes scanning the room with uncertainty.

“Of course.” Light paused and then said hesitantly, “She’s my sister, too, isn’t she?”

Junpei heard them kiss from behind the curtain and smiled to himself. He took Akane’s hand and stroked her forearm, then touched her belly. Everyone was gonna be fine. 

The adjustment period to living together was...fun, but Light had been true and kept Akane comfortable (she enjoyed the princess treatment at first, before she got bigger and could do less and less). 

Junpei knew Clover was confused by the whole situation but her indefinite road trip with her old friend Alice kept her busy, and he thought Light must be pretty lonely by himself.

On Junpei’s end, he had to deal with the knowledge that they liked having shower sex. A lot. Aoi did not think it was funny when one time Junpei played romantic music on his phone and held it up to the bathroom door; Light laughed and he became the new favorite brother-in-law. Junpei overheard arguments sometimes but he thought that was foreplay at this point; they definitely liked the back-and-forth and made each other laugh as much as they made each other mad.

Something had chipped their relationship a few months ago when Light announced his next tour. Junpei didn’t know if Aoi simply didn’t want him to be away that long, or now as Phi said something was eroding Aoi’s trust, but one night Light went to ‘pick up some items’ from his old apartment and didn’t come back. Aoi would visit him every day he could but never asked him to come back to their home. The family home was empty without their voices at night or the music.

Because of this Junpei decided to take Light’s case, curious and unable to butt out now and thinking maybe if he could prove Aoi wasn’t doing anything _too_ bad he would chip in some positive karma. He thought he could help them be okay; he wanted them to be okay again despite his complaints that they could be a storm in the house, too. His complaints were how he showed he cared.

About Phi, he didn’t know what he’d do. He couldn’t predict her thought process like her best friend Sigma could, to the point where Sigma could say when she’d arrive to a restaurant, what she’d order, and would have her drink waiting for her when she came in. He and Diana were her dates to the wedding and she was definitely going to take time off to see them in D.C. on Aoi’s dime. Those two definitely wouldn’t rat her out either. Phi had a plan, but why hadn’t he been a part of it?

To start dealing with her, Junpei called an old friend currently poking around Maryland in search of a new case and they brainstormed where to go from there. Then he called Light despite the time difference. “I’ll do it. You’ll hear from me by the end of the week.”

“How do you still not know to exchange pleasantries first? Especially when you wake me up in the middle of the night.” Light mumbled something and Junpei heard rustling on the other end of the line; likely Light was holding the phone between his jaw and his shoulder, and he murmured to Clover on his end to go back to sleep. “I didn’t expect you to turn me down.”

“Uh-huh. Fine, how’s Clover?” He guessed she’d left Alice with one of their many friends; Clover always traveled with him on tour as she was Light’s handler and biggest support. She could deal with the shadiest venue or the most aggressive groupies. She was almost certainly Light’s confidant for anything going on in his marriage and Junpei would have to figure out a subtle way to get her thoughts on the situation. She always gave off the vibe of being uncomfortable with Light’s choice in partner but wanting to be happy for him, at least until the night of the engagement party when she got drunk and asked ‘Why him?’ so loud the entire room went quiet. (Junpei, ever curious, eavesdropped on the Fields’ terse conversation in the hallway.) 

Clover didn’t speak to her brother for a day and Light sulked in the Kurashikis’ apartment playing old records. Even Aoi told him to get over it and give her space; it was the first serious disagreement the Fields ever had.

“She’s well. It’s wonderful to see her again.” A door closed on Light’s end and he lowered his voice as he said, “Send an invoice to my email address.”

“I will.” Junpei weighed his words before asking, “What are you gonna do if you’re right?” He cared about them. They’d put their own plans to begin their life together aside to support him and Akane.

“I don’t know. What do you think I should do?”

“I can’t answer that!”

“Then you see why I came to you. I don’t want to distrust him, but I need to put my mind at rest,” he explained gently.

‘I hope you can live with whatever you find,’ Junpei thought.

**

After two days in D.C. following Light around attending gigs and watching their hotel on the outskirts of town (distant and cheaper than she expected for a big spender), Phi concluded that Light was boring. Unless he had a gig or reading he stayed inside during the daytime and his sister ran errands. 

On the third day, Phi followed Clover and watched her visit an ATM, buy junk food and toiletries at a drugstore (always paying cash), eat a pastry at a cafe, and then lumber back to the hotel in their van. She was a reckless driver and Phi risked tailing her, guessing if Clover didn't notice someone merging in front of her, she wasn't looking behind her.

The hotel didn't have an underground parking lot, and of course Clover parked out in the open where Phi couldn't afford to hover and peek through the van’s windows after Clover left. Regardless, if he was seeing anyone for any reason, they were coming to him. Aoi reported no credit transactions besides the hotel, but a sizeable withdrawal today. The max a D.C. ATM would give out, Phi learned after texting Diana. It was good to have a local source. 

She needed one for her next plan.

"Hey," she said on a call in a diner that boldly demanded $12.00 for wheat toast with preserves and a medium coffee. "Are you busy today?"

Diana's interest and exuberance could make the line crackle. "No! Where are you, I'll—"

"I'll pick you up at the Metro station. I need your help with something."

**

Phi stopped at a parking meter three blocks away from the club Light would be reading and performing tonight. She turned to her partner, who lifted the corners of her mouth with her pointer fingers to grin at her. "Diana, you're a fan. Kind of awkward, starstruck, and persistent in trying to get his attention. But not so obnoxious they throw you out." If they’d met Diana at Junpei and Akane’s wedding two years ago they likely wouldn’t remember her, and Phi couldn’t go in herself without attracting their attention.

"I skimmed his books so we’ll have something to talk about," Diana proudly announced.

"You brave soul." She patted Diana’s knee. “Thanks.”

Diana squeezed her. “I’m so happy you came to see me.” Yeah, she was tipsy. She got tipsy when she was excited and Phi felt a tiny bit of regret. 

Phi watched Diana head inside, clutching a decoy copy of one of his books for an autograph and gushing session, then she fed the meter and proceeded to find their van parked in the alley off the side of the club.

Trash pulls were the worst but they were a useful way to collect a lot of information that people didn’t even realize they were throwing out. Aoi had given her a copy of the van key and no alarm sounded when she used it. She slid the big side door open and found, as he’d warned, an absolute mess. As Junpei joked, Aoi was clearly the housewife of the two as she saw old food in the mats and the seats were ripped. She made a face and shook her hand when she touched the inside door handle and her fingers got sticky.

She rifled through receipts and food wrappers on the floor, turned over books and CDs and looked into boxes for any hidden items, filled a small bag with potential evidence, and was about to wrap things up when she froze at footsteps behind her. She should’ve been more cautious this time of night, and slowly moved her hand to her jacket pocket where she hid a switchblade. Closing her fist around it, she turned around.

A flashlight’s sharp, glaring beam cut through her vision and she shaded her eyes with the bag and held the blade up. When the light bounced away from her her eyes adjusted and once she made out who it was, she lowered her knife as she had nothing to worry about.

The man who, despite Junpei’s eternal teasing, still went by Seven took her knife, lowered the flashlight, and shook his head. He was huge and she was glad he was on Junpei’s side. “Well, Junpei wanted me to find you.”

“...He’ll get over it. It was a lot of money.”

“Oh, I’m sure. The problem is: What the hell do I tell him?” Seven crossed his arms. “And what do I do with someone who’s so incompetent she gets caught by somebody wearing boots?” He nudged her shin with the toe of his boots to make a point; she nudged him back. “Get out of there.” He grabbed her forearm and helped her hop down from the van, shut the door, and they slipped out of the alley.

“I have someone with me,” she said.

“Hurry up.”

“I’m not a kid,” she grumbled and they had to wait in her car for Diana, who returned a bit early, stumbling but pleased with herself.

“I totally did a good job,” she said, beaming. She put her hands on Phi’s shoulders; she got so touchy when she was drunk. “I don’t think they remember me. I could tell they were, like, super flattered. Did you do your detective thing?”

“Okay, you’re not taking the train home alone,” Phi said, removing Diana’s hands from her own shoulders. “I’ll drive you home. Oh, and I have a friend with me.”

“Is it a nice friend? Can I work with you? I think I’d be good at it!”

“I’ll think about it.”

Diana looked at her tenderly and then said, earnest, “I miss you soooo much when you’re not around, Phi.” She threw her arms around Phi, who looked up at the night sky and wondered what she’d been thinking. But it was nice to feel someone else’s warmth. Ever since she’d moved to Japan she’d been so lonely.

Phi drove Diana home with Seven following in his own car the whole time. She debated trying to lose him, not in the mood for a lecture, but when she arrived and keyed Diana in she got caught up in one. She decided to sit with him outside rather than involve Diana and Sigma, who would defend her and just make the situation more awkward.

“He trusts you, y’know,” Seven said, leaning back. “He doesn’t trust a lot of people.”

“Apparently he doesn’t trust me much.”

“I just caught you lying, kid, don’t pile it on.”

Phi crossed her legs at the ankles and looked at her shoes. “So you think he’s working for the other half?”

“I know so. He told me. What are you gonna do? The answer better be come clean.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Phi kicked her feet. “What are you gonna tell him?”

“I think that’s up to you isn’t it? You gonna talk to him yourself or make me do it?”

“I just realized why we never work together,” Phi said dryly.

“Trust me, I want no part in that circus. Good luck.” He shrugged. “Technically I’ve known them longer than anyone. I’d like to see ‘em happy. Maybe they should rip the Band-Aid off.”

“Or they could talk to each other.”

Seven’s eyes widened. “Have you ever met them?” He bid her goodbye and drove off. 

Phi let herself into the building and called Junpei. “So. Seven says hi.”

“Great,” he said flatly. “So how’s Mrs. Suguro?”

“He’s fine.”

They argued for a bit about what to do before Junpei said, “Look, it makes more sense to just work together. Why can’t we just do that?”

“I don’t see a reason not to.” Phi searched for her next words. Junpei was clearly disappointed and she didn’t know what to do with that feeling. He was the awkward intersection between former boss and friend and his opinion of her mattered on a personal level now. “Don’t stay too mad,” she joked.

“I’ll pick you up at the airport,” Junpei said before hanging up.

Phi glared at her phone before pocketing it and heading upstairs. When she entered Sigma and Diana’s apartment, Diana was sprawled on the couch with her head in Sigma’s lap and talking about what an awesome detective she was going to be.

Sigma gestured to her and then to Phi as if to ask what she’d done.

Phi waved him off before sitting down beside them on the couch and asking Diana when she could start working for Higashino.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost done! Thanks for reading so far. I might have another AL fic in the works once this is done.

Junpei picked Phi up at the airport; he took her back to their office rather than her shoebox apartment and she slept on the sofa until evening. He kept himself busy reviewing her notes, always so organized and detailed. She didn’t have many results; the trash was normal road trip detritus and the bank statements from Aoi weren’t innocuous but also, Junpei knew the man could blow an insane amount on skincare. Whatever made Aoi so paranoid was more in his own mind than anything, Junpei thought, until he re-examined the statements.

He scanned them to a forensic accountant he used occasionally, who identified what he found strange on rush order: A series of transactions going back to before the wedding. They started shortly before and were transfers to a bank account that Aoi hadn’t given the statements for. Junpei emailed him from Phi’s account and clarified what bank accounts they held. This mystery account was not one of them. So where did it come from and where was this money going?

When Phi woke up he nudged her back to her desk, the papers spread out there. He let her read them and when she was done she rested her chin in her hand. “So now what?”

“Something isn’t right on Light’s end either,” Junpei said. “He never really told me _why_ he thinks Aoi is spying on him.”

“You didn’t ask?” Phi said, incredulous.

“Did you ask Aoi about his paranoia?”

“Worry about your client!” Phi pointed a finger in his direction. “Call him and find out!”

Junpei rolled his eyes and did so, getting the answer that while Light didn’t find any keyloggers, bugs, or cameras, Aoi had the uncanny ability to always Know where his husband was, what he’d been up to, and always had questions about it. It made Light feel like a child and they’d fought about this behavior last time, with Light dodging exactly What had sparked the issue. Junpei ended the conversation politely, feeling odd about the situation. So Light was acting on a hunch, one of which Junpei had hard evidence that made him look bad by proxy. He had to handle this one carefully.

“Good news,” Phi said, “Akane is on one account. I called the bank and impersonated her to verify the owner of the account he’s sending money to.” 

The answer was a man who worked at the local Municipal Office, presiding over family registries. His job history was bland, the kind one would expect of a lifelong civil servant. Junpei could picture the man: thin, tired-looking, and pale. Likely single, unhappy about it but unmotivated to change it. Resented his boss but kissed up. Bitter he wasn’t advancing quickly enough but afraid to leave the security of the government. Junpei stopped himself, realizing he was fantasizing again, but feeling intrigued by the character he’d made up.

While Junpei couldn’t just call and ask ‘How do you know Aoi Kurashiki, anyway?’ he could open the door. He called the Municipal Office in his hometown on a hunch. He needed the head of household and the permanent address on Aoi’s registry in order to obtain a copy, and he suspected Aoi would name their hometown instead of their current city, as he and Akane had when they got married. 

Aoi had to be head of household because Light had taken his last name when they got married. The permanent address was wrong; Junpei tried their current city but got nothing either. The registry did not exist, according to the clerk who answered the phone. She wouldn’t provide Junpei with any other registry Aoi might be on as he didn’t have any other heads of household to plug in. After conferring with Akane, he got her father’s first name and found Aoi was listed there as his child, unmarried, after a copy of the registry was faxed to him. On paper Aoi was single as could be.

Junpei was stymied at trying to find similar for the Fields as he didn’t have their head of household or permanent address, didn’t even know where to start, and going around the legal channels would take a minute, as would getting a marriage record. He’d set aside the odd marital limbo for a moment, instead focusing on the clerk and wondering how best to go about meeting with the employee.

Phi came up with the idea to put out feelers in the office, specifically about ‘discretion’ in registration. After a lot of time on the phone, he was finally led to said clerk, who oversaw compliance, and arranged a meeting in their home office.

“So, you busy?”

“No, Aoi doesn’t expect me to meet until next week.”

“See you there.”

They agreed to meet with the clerk and begin to unravel the odd inconsistency in both the registry and bank account. Pulling at odd ends had helped them in the past and the most famous being one that had undone the fanatic, but that was a different story. 

Right now Junpei just wanted to go home and take a bath with his wife.

**

Akane was less in the mood.

“You can’t get out, can you?” Junpei asked when he found her soaking in tepid water, looking uncomfortable and pouting.

“No,” she said, arms crossed over her traitorous belly.

He put his hand under her armpits, tugging gently. “Up, up,” he urged, teasing, and she scowled and flailed her hands before gripping the sides of the tub and pushing herself up, where he lifted her to a standing position. “Aoi just left you like this?”

“I was fine when he left!” she groused.

“Left?”

“Yeah, in a hurry. He said he was late picking them up.”

“What?” The calendar said Light was gone until the end of June, and they were only a week in.

“Yeah.” Akane’s face grew concerned, as she drew her hands together over her chest. She shivered and Junpei wrapped a towel around her shoulders. “Light got really sick on tour and he’s coming home to recover.”

This was the first Junpei heard of it; had he been that in his own head for the past week? 

“It’s the first time they’ve spoken since he left so it must be serious,” she added. She snuggled into the towel and he helped her out of the tub and back into bed to get dressed.

“You sure it’s the first time they’ve spoken?” he asked as he rolled socks up her feet.

“He said,” Akane replied. “Sounds like them, don’t you think?”

“Yeah…” Junpei couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right with this timeline. He kissed Akane’s knee and tried to slip out of work mode, sneaking another kiss on her belly for the baby. He got her a snack, set her up on a video call with Carlos, and tidied up lest he have to deal with Aoi hounding him later. He was satisfied with the room and he’d even remembered to rotate the canned drinks so Light’s favorites were towards the front. Them together could be a hurricane but solo he really liked their company and he felt bad Light was sick.

“Okay, sit down,” he heard Aoi say as they entered the front door, fumbling with shoes in the entryway and heavier breathing. Someone else mumbled and then Junpei heard Clover say, “Take it easy!”

“Hey?” Junpei called and entered the room to find the trio crowded on the couch, Light laid out while Aoi and Clover seemed to jostle to pay attention to him. “Need anything?”

“Just a blanket and a drink,” Clover said before Aoi could.

Junpei fetched said things and gently said, “Hey, man, sorry about the tour,” as he handed them off. Light looked paler and exhausted and kept his eyes shut the whole time, looking uncomfortably like a corpse. When he was alone with Aoi, Junpei asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Viral infection. Not contagious now, Doc said it was okay for him to be around people,” he added, anticipating concern for Akane who had to be extremely careful about germs now. “He’ll be fine, just has to chill.” Aoi put a hand on his hip and tilted his head towards the living room. “Not happy about it so tread lightly.”

“Gotcha.”

For the Fields, this was a crash pad and as he got some strength back Light became more talkative. 

Junpei sat with him one afternoon while both Aoi and Clover were away (still competing with each other to take the best care of Light). “I’m still looking,” he reassured.

“Take your time,” Light said tiredly. He and Aoi had been getting along decently which was a surprise for two people who weren’t talking until recently. “I… Well I suppose I have to trust him right now.”

That was grim. Junpei folded his hands over his knees. “You’ll be okay.”

“I want to believe you.”

“...Why propose?” Junpei had wondered for ages.

He smiled. “Because he’s one of the most interesting people I know.

Junpei thought the biggest mystery was what they saw in each other, and he didn’t want to be cynical, but what Phi found when he’d encouraged her to come over and pull their bags he’d sneaked out last night helped explain that.

“Then I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

**

“That’s a lot of debt,” Phi said bluntly as she looked at the trash she’d gathered from the bags Junpei gave her last night. She held up the paperwork showing the debt in Light’s name. Stuff on top of the debt Aoi knew about, all business-related and all looking worse the more she looked. “His business is tanking.”

“State the obvious.” Junpei folded his arms. “I wonder if Aoi knows the extent of it.” He could kind of get it; Higashino wasn’t exactly a huge money maker and the Kurashikis really didn’t get why he’d felt the need to leave a leadership position in Crash Keys to form his own agency. Truth was he needed to be his own person again and was tired of mingling family and red tape. He was proud of it even if making their rent meant he was leaning hard on the remainder of the loan he’d taken from Aoi and he wasn’t totally forthcoming about how grim things could be. In lieu of a salary he paid Phi’s rent and food costs directly because it was cheaper.

Aoi was generous at the end of the day, with limits but generous. He would bail Light out if he asked but Light would never ask, and instead had dug a deeper hole in an effort to reinvest and diversify. They’d read a lot of scrapped plans, some printed out emails, and unsold stock. 

The answers ranged from Light was deeply paranoid or regretting the marriage, the most depressing was that he was dead broke and needed a life preserver of some kind. He was too proud to ask for help and Junpei suspected he was too proud to plan around needing anyone, but this was a huge thing to sit on with your spouse. After everything they’d been through in the past, what was some debt honestly? They’d grown together over far worse.

As their investigations were dovetailing nicely, Phi made her own copies and Junpei held on to some in case he felt they were necessary later. Either way, Light wasn’t being honest and Junpei had to address that if he wanted to keep working.

**

The day came for the Municipal Office meeting. The clerk seemed surprised to see Junpei and Phi together and Junpei was surprised when Phi took his hand in the office, covered a half-smile, and introduced him as her boyfriend.

They were seated in a small but meticulously kept office, like the owner was proud of it and he started to fit Junpei’s image of a civil servant quickly. “What can I help you with today?”

“We need some advice,” Phi began, keeping pace in Japanese like she’d been practicing very hard.

“I speak English,” the clerk said helpfully and Phi covered her mouth again, shaking her head.

“Thank you, my Japanese isn’t good.” Phi still held his hand between them and Junpei felt he was trapped. “My boyfriend and I want to get married soon.”

“This is news to me,” Junpei said, and the clerk chuckled like Junpei was shy.

“But his ex-wife won’t accept their divorce,” Phi spat with convincing venom, “and she’s threatening to ruin his reputation if he marries me.”

“I’m sorry?” the clerk seemed confused by the blunt confession. 

Phi twirled her hair and smiled shyly. “I’m sorry, I just get so mad when I think about her. We’re in love and she can’t stand it. We wanted to ask if it’s possible to get married without reporting it to the home office, and for you to ‘lose’ the marriage certificate so she can’t prove anything. It’s not ideal, especially with the baby coming, but we can’t afford for him to lose clients either.”

Junpei sat there in stunned silence. If Akane was here she’d find this amusing. He was surrounded by crazy women.

“...I must remind you to be careful what you say to a municipal officer,” the clerk said slowly, “and that falsely reporting on a family registry is punishable by law. Nobody here will help you with that.”

Phi gasped. “You did it for our friend.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “If it’s money you’re after, my boyfriend is a successful businessman. We’d be happy to pay you anything you ask in exchange for hiding our paperwork from public request.”

“I take my job seriously and I have never—”

“You’re Miwa, right?” Junpei interjected. “How did you meet Aoi Kurashiki?” He shook off Phi’s hand and retrieved some folded up papers from inside his jacket. They were the statements with the transfer activity. “He sends you money every month, he has no marriage on file, and when I asked around it was your name that came up as someone who helps people regularly falsify family records.” He inclined his head towards Miwa, who was beginning to pale. “I assume you helped him conceal his marriage too, right?”

“That isn’t my account and I don’t know that man.”

“Your name is on the account.”

“My brother couldn’t open one, I let him use it and keep it in my name.” Miwa, thinking he’d found a loophole, looked smug. “He’s an authorized user on my card.”

“So he uses your account to pay your bills?” Junpei said. He provided Miwa’s cancelled rent checks, provided by his landlady when Junpei called and pretended to be an officer investigating rental fraud in her complex. “Listen, I’m not the police and I don’t care about your scams. I just need one piece of information: do you or do you not help Aoi Kurashiki conceal his marriage to the public?”

“...You swear you’re not police?” Miwa mumbled, slumping back in his seat like a child pouting he got caught. 

“Swear,” Phi said.

“I remember the name because the man is loaded. He won’t miss the money. He’s single on the registry and the marriage certificate gets lost in case anyone ever requests it. Are you happy?”

“Almost. One more thing.”

“What?”

“Stop collecting the hush money or I do go to the police.” Junpei grabbed the handset on Miwa’s desk and punched in Aoi’s number and handed him the phone. “Now.”

Miwa did so, doubling down as Aoi resisted at first, and finally got him to agree after promising he wasn’t interested in collecting any money, he wouldn’t talk. He gave Junpei and Phi a copy of the fake registry and the real marriage license. “You’re taking my daughter’s university fees,” he muttered.

Phi shrugged. “She’ll live.”

Junpei purposefully kept a distance from her as they walked outside.

Phi was smiling and moving with more energy than she’d shown in a while. “I think that went well.”

“The thought of marrying you is horrifying,” Junpei said with a shudder.

“Think of our child,” Phi said.

**

Back at the office they regrouped.

Junpei began, "So there's what both parties told us, and what we know to be true."

Phi nodded and started diagramming their findings on her tablet. "Fact: Their marriage isn't reported. Why? We don't know." She drew two stick figures holding hands, then drew a vertical zigzag line between them to show a breakup. 

"Fact: They're both in trouble with money. Aoi was paying off a municipal clerk to keep quiet about Fact Number One; Light is in a ton of debt and can't recoup the loss or tap into Aoi's funds." Phi added dollar signs above them and then crossed them out.

"Fact: They hired us because they each suspected the other of lying." Phi drew two other stick figures in blue, one wearing a jacket and the other posing. Junpei chuckled.

"Remaining questions: Why lie about the marriage? Why the secrecy around money? Why is Aoi so afraid of the truth coming out?" Phi drew a bigger question mark. "And most importantly: What else are they hiding from everyone, and how do they benefit from keeping this show going?"

“We have no choice,” Junpei sighed. “We gotta talk to them.”

Phi groaned.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it.

Once Clover saw that her brother would be fine, she chafed too much in their home and went back to the small place the Fields kept up for their time in Japan. She and Junpei had drinks as it had been forever since he’d seen her, and he was surprised to find Alice had met her in Japan. Clover was happy in her presence and Alice dismissed him quickly as it was the first night she’d come back.

On the way home, he pondered what to do. He was sitting on a bomb to a marriage of two people he cared about, considered family and close friends. He resented himself for taking this case and both of them for dragging him and Phi in, and Phi for pursuing it in the first place. He hadn’t dealt with the lie yet but he couldn’t throw himself into work forever. Whatever he did he was going to hurt people and be the messenger they shot. He’d put Akane through heartache for her brother.

At the front door he paused, taking a deep breath and bracing himself to go inside. He wondered if they’d yet flipped to the ‘Cold’ end of ‘Hot and Cold.’ They’d gotten along while Light was sick and it was about time for another petty squabble ending in either teasing or actual fighting.

When he opened the door he found Light asleep again, head in Aoi’s lap. (A lap pillow sounded nice right now but Akane didn’t have a lap anymore.) Junpei wanted his hair played with like Aoi was doing to his husband, holding his phone in his other hand. He acknowledged Junpei when he said hi and, seeing they weren’t in a place to be interrupted, Junpei headed back to his bedroom.

With a sigh, he settled into bed with Akane and tucked his chin against her shoulder as he spooned her from behind. Of all people he didn’t want to lie to her and in the moment he did something impulsive: “Can I tell you something?”

“Hm?”

“I think you brother is in trouble.”

“I know.”

“Of course. How long?”

“Since I found an email he wrote to his husband.” She lifted her shoulder. “I needed to find something.” She was also shut inside all day and notoriously bored easily. With great effort, she rolled onto her side to face him. “He won’t listen to me when I tell him to be honest.”

“What did the email say?”

She pulled it up on her phone and showed him.

Aoi had just vomited whatever came to mind on the page—the end result wasn't romantic but still raw, vulnerable. This was someone talking to, at least, someone with a shared degree of intimacy. He wasn’t used to talking like this and it showed.

_That's a stupid fucking question. Of course I want you to come here._

_I hate not knowing if..._

_Don't forget why you took my name. When you come back..._

Junpei fixated on one line in that letter: the surname. Everyone had raised an eyebrow at Light becoming a Kurashiki on paper (nobody more so than Clover). He just shrugged and said the other was too hardheaded to switch and he wanted to get this over with before 2050. That was a pointed dodge, and it wasn't like he used it for his career.

“How long were you going to hold on to this?”

Akane pulled her lower eyelid down. “Until I figured out how to convince him to make up. I like them together.”

“You may be the only one,” he joked.

“Niichan is just unique. I think he found someone like him in that way, so they bump into each other a lot but they also like it a lot, too.” She grumbled as she couldn’t get comfortable. “When did you start looking into them?”

He explained the situation so far and she listened intently, before shaking her head. “Look closer. That isn’t like the niichan here.” She held up the phone.

“Can you help me get Light alone then?”

Akane considered this before nodding. “Tomorrow I wanna go shopping with niichan anyway. Turn off your phone and don’t turn it back on for...hm, maybe five hours. That should be enough time.”

Junpei wondered what she was thinking, but if he knew then she wouldn’t be Akane. 

When they left the next day Aoi left Light on the couch, more alert but still grumbly he couldn’t do much by himself. Clover hung out with them for a while before she had to leave ‘for work’ (Junpei had no idea how she supported herself, she always said if she told him she’d have to kill him). Junpei looked around and found the place was empty before he said, “So I have your answer.”

“Hm?”

“Yeah. He hired Phi to look after you.”

“Ugh.” He was determined to be monosyllabic it seemed. “Aoi…”

“Erm, hypocrite much?” Junpei couldn’t help himself. “Do you two even talk to each other?”

“Have you ever tried to convince him to do anything? You have to have proof before you can talk to him.”

“You’re _married_, you should trust each other.” Junpei folded his arms. “Listen, I’m firing you. I don’t want your money and I never should’ve done this. This was always between you two; you should’ve kept it that way.”

Light didn’t seem disappointed or taken aback, just considered what Junpei said before shrugging and saying, “Fine.”

“Fine? What are you going to do?”

“You said you don’t care. I’ll do what I like. Will you say anything to him?”

God Junpei hated drama yet he always found himself in it with them. “...You should tell him.” He read the email off of his phone where he’d copied it. “He deserves to know. He really likes you.” Junpei sighed. “If you don’t want to be with him just end it.”

He left the room and, realizing he had a another hour but curious as to what Akane was up to, turned his phone on to see he had ten missed calls and a dozen irate text messages from Aoi that Akane was in the hospital with stomach pains and where the fuck was he? 

Junpei rushed himself there and found Akane sitting peacefully in bed, reading a book while Aoi fussed beside her still. Occasionally she’d wince and hiss but otherwise seemed fine. Junpei, most familiar with what her contractions looked like, was unconvinced but Aoi really seemed to believe her.

“Niichan, I want Jumpy,” she said gently and he complained but left for a moment.

“You faked an emergency to buy me some time,” Junpei said. “You’ve turned our child into a criminal.” He nodded. “I respect it.”

Akane winked at him. “Niichan and I had a chat. I think we’re all not going to be in the dark much longer.”

If he didn’t love her, he’d be terrified of her.

**

Phi was invited to a dinner to celebrate Light’s recovery; Junpei said he wanted someone who wouldn’t join in when they picked on him. (He was going to be disappointed about that.) They trundled along in the rain as a mismatched group of two men sharing an umbrella, a slow pregnant woman, Alice and Clover, and two detectives. Akane’s cravings ruled the day which left Light with nothing to eat as most of the food on offer in the casual restaurant turned his stomach. Aoi ordered tiny greens and bland food and shared it with his husband. They were...kind of cute, not like the untrustworthy people they played when they were with Junpei and Phi alone.

“Phi, thanks for coming,” Akane said warmly, smiling around her mouthful of fried squid. “I don’t see you since you left with Junpei.”

“How’s that going anyway?” Aoi said, his tone neutral but his meaning layered.

“Busy,” she lied. She had helped someone find a lost dog the other day. They were confused about what type of agency Higashino was, and she took the case because she was bored. Junpei was on her to drop the Aoi case and she had resisted thus far, believing at the least he deserved to know. (Sigma was well-meaning but unhelpful when he told her the right thing was butting out.) She sat on the info another day. For now.

Junpei gave her a look that made her glad one person was blind and everyone else wasn’t paying attention.

“I’m fine,” Light said to both Clover and Aoi who wouldn’t stop bothering him. 

“What? You were passed out earlier.” Aoi stirred wilted greens around in his dish.

“I don’t need you to worry,” Light said with a hint of concern.

“I bet.”

Alice stuck up for him. “Leave him be. He’s stubborn.” Alice had way more grace than she knew. If Clover disliked Akane, Alice thought even less of her but never let on. She’d come because Clover asked and sat between her and Phi, and she and Phi caught up easily. Alice wrote a brief factorial down on a napkin and challenged Phi to solve it and they passed time trading riddles.

The night was pleasant if a bit tense as Phi and Junpei kept looking at each other every time one of the spouses said anything as if to say, ‘You say it,’ and ‘No you say it.’ 

Light dismissed himself and Aoi followed him, carrying his forgotten jacket. Clover was in an involved conversation with Alice and didn’t notice. Despite Junpei’s gesture, Phi followed them.

“You’re wrecked,” she overheard Aoi say.

“I am,” Light admitted with a small, tired laugh.

“How’s it holding up do you think?”

“Well enough. I think it’ll peter out soon.” A pause. “It’s pretty fun.”

“You remember when everyone thought we couldn’t stand each other?”

“Sometimes I think they still do.”

“Pffft. Let’s go back inside.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m freezing.”

Phi snuck back and sat down, though she swore Aoi looked sidelong at her like he knew something. He stopped her and asked to meet the day after, and she agreed because she had her answer.

**

“I’m not the one you want,” Phi said, stirring her drink. “Do what you want with the information but I’m done.”

“How principled,” Aoi said, murmuring as he was lost in the paperwork she’d given him. “Ooooohh, this son of a bitch.” 

Sigma was right and it sucked. Junpei was right and that was worse.

Aoi made an excuse to end the meeting early and as he headed for the door he asked her if she was satisfied.

“Are you?” she echoed.

“I guess I got what I needed.”

Phi crossed her ankles and rolled her sleeve up to reread the words.

When she arrived at the office she found Junpei meeting with a prospective client and obviously closing the deal as he was pleased. She busied herself organizing files until they were done speaking and the client left. 

She and Junpei looked at each other in silence before he asked, “So he knows?”

“Yeah.”

“Great.” And he didn’t say much to her for the rest of the evening.

**

Junpei was trying to sleep beside a restless Akane, who kicked him now that she was pregnant though she always denied it when awake, when he heard a door slam and some furious voices in Aoi’s room. ‘Here it comes,’ he thought. He got up to eavesdrop, standing outside of Aoi’s door.

They were arguing about the bank statements and the registry, the accusations growing rather more angry and paranoid until suddenly there was silence.

“Well I guess we’ll tell them tomorrow,” Light said quietly.

“I guess so.”

His heart fell. He sneaked back to bed and woke up Akane without trying, then hugged her tightly until she complained. He told her what he’d heard. “I think it’s really over,” he said sadly.

“It’ll be okay,” Akane reassured him. “We’ll all get through it.” She stroked his cheek and shook her head at his denial. “I think you did the best thing.”

**

“So we’re telling Akane and Clover separately,” Aoi said, sounding tired as he stood up from the couch across from Junpei. “Sorry for putting you all in an awkward situation but now is the best time to do this.”

“Before the baby,” the other explained. “_I_ didn’t suggest this, so I apologize for the stress your brother-in-law is putting her through.”

“Because I’m supposed to stay with someone who lied to me,” Aoi scoffed. “You are ridiculous, you know that? You always were.”

Light got up and got in Aoi’s space. “Not as ridiculous as spying on me.”

“You hired Junpei!”

Junpei stood and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Stop it, just…stop, guys. For once be civil.”

They stopped at his words. “I guess no matter how much you want something, you don’t always get it,” Light said quietly.

“You’re so cheesy.” Aoi covered his mouth, then shook his head. “I’ll help you pack. For what it’s worth…” His shoulders jumped and he made a sound; at first Junpei thought he was crying, but then he noticed Aoi’s eyes squint like he did when he was laughing.

Light snorted. “Stop, take this seriously.” He couldn’t help himself and turned away from Junpei, his own shoulders shaking before he started to laugh.

Aoi clapped his hands together, starting to chuckle, “I knew you would crack first, I knew it!”

“It’s your fault!” He reached for Aoi, who put his arm around his shoulders and they continued to laugh.

Junpei was confused. He stood there with his arms at his sides before saying, “What.”

“Oh, I guess we have to tell him, right?”

“I suppose.”

They stifled themselves and turned back around to him. “Surprise, we’re staying together.” He wiped his eye. “Oh my God.”

“Congratulations, you solved the case even if Aoi ruined the reveal.”

“Or rather, the case that there was no case. We made one up for you guys.” Aoi bowed. “You two are great detectives, send Phi our regards.”

“You made it up,” Junpei said, not sure how he felt. “You let me and your sister think you were on the rocks for _how long_?” He grabbed Aoi’s shirt and started to shake him. “How is this funny to you?”

Light said, “It’s more the melodrama that was fun. I understand why you’d be hurt, but—”

“You wasted _how much of my time_?”

Aoi tried to remove Junpei but was unsuccessful. “It was a case, and you needed one. It started as this dumb joke, but then we got really into it and before I knew it I was pitching it to Phi. A lot of it was improv—the clerk was in on it, he did a great job—but I think it came together nicely.”

Light added, “I like to think we’re doing fine.”

“And I like to think you two really need to check that you’re alone,” Akane said as she emerged from the bedroom she’d been hiding in. She said she was going shopping earlier so Junpei was surprised to see her. “I overheard them early on. I’m sorry for hiding something like this from you, but I wanted to see how far they would take this.” She glared at her brother. “I kept your secret, so you owe me.”

“You owe me! I swear I’m going to kill you both.” Junpei let go of Aoi at Akane’s nudge. He noticed they weren’t laughing at him, but with each other. Akane came to his side and hugged him. “I’m so glad this is your idea of bonding.”

Aoi held up a hand. “Last time we do this, I swear. You really are a great detective.”

“I hope Higashino has much success.”

“I’m still going to kill you,” Junpei muttered into Akane’s hair.

Junpei took the afternoon to cool down in his office, which stretched into evening. He was still staring at his phone when Phi came in. They had blown his phone up with apologies and he was slowly chilling out at their remorse. If he thought about it, they were clever and had given him something interesting for sure. Emotional distress aside, which he was still upset about, he could see himself forgiving them with some time. He had an excuse to push babysitting on them forever.

When he explained it to Phi, she was quiet for a moment before saying, “I have to admit I’m impressed. I’m mad but I’m impressed.”

“I want a drink,” Junpei said. “Let’s go forget about those guys.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

**

Junpei was late for work. Phi didn’t mind, the office was small and keeping it quiet without him was easier. He was on his phone a lot when he was here and it was distracting. She was in flow when he came in, slowly because he was carrying something bulky.

“Again?” she said when she saw the baby carrier.

“What? The train puts her to sleep.” He set his daughter on his desk, on top of some files Phi needed.

Yaya was pretty quiet now that she was approaching six months; Phi remembered a little bit ago when Junpei came in and slept at his desk while Phi worked. He bounced the carrier a little and she murmured in her sleep but didn’t wake up. 

“So what do we have today?” he asked as he continued unpacking his bag. Bottles and a formula tin were mixed in with his laptop and notebooks.

“A different errant wife, I think this one is even a woman,” Phi said. They’d refused any domestic cases since the Kurashiki Family Massacre. “What? The offer was amazing,” she said at his frown.

“I hate those.”

“Well the conspiracies have gotten pretty spare, I think the shadowy organizations should step up their game.” She crossed an item off of her to-do list, securing a plane ticket for another trip out of the country. Diana and Sigma wanted her to visit and Phi missed them so she was leaving Junpei to his own devices for a week. “How are your errant wives?”

“Doing better. I think picking on me brings them closer. They’re going on some anniversary trip next month.”

“It must be nice to have money.”

“It was.” 

He shouldn’t have complained. Higashino was regrouping and money was trickling in alongside work. Phi guessed Aoi and Light felt bad because they’d been on a stealth marketing campaign, recommending within their varied networks so fast that she and Junpei had to quickly adjust to corporate espionage, tax and insurance fraud, and exploitation of rich and infirm family members. A lot of it came because the clients were shady themselves and going to law enforcement put them in a precarious legal position or risked public embarrassment, so there was no problem collecting their fees and they could afford to raise said fees three months in. They were considering moving soon to a better office. 

“Y’know I think in the long run we did them a favor. Collaborating on their scheme really improved their communication skills.”

“I’m so glad for them.” Her ego still stung, even if they were doing them a huge favor with their business.

Despite his complaining, Junpei sat down with her and they got to work. The baby stayed asleep long enough for them to make some headway, and then Junpei had to get up and feed her, take her outside to walk with her for a little bit as she was fussy, and then set her up in a saucer she was finally large enough for that he’d had in the office since shortly after she was born. “And they said I couldn’t be a working parent.” He was more distracted playing with her than working once she was up, but it was cute. Phi even got down on the floor with her while he went to the bathroom.

“Okay, okay, I think someone isn’t gonna settle,” he apologized when the baby whining kept interrupting their home stretch. “I’m taking her home…”

A knock at the door interrupted him. He and Phi looked at each curiously, and then Phi tabbed over to the camera software that watched their front door. “Speak of the Devils.”

“Babysitting service,” Aoi announced, beckoning Junpei to hand Yaya over which he did. “We’ll take her for the night so you can work,” he chirped.

“Thanks, we’re swamped.”

“So you’ll have time to work on this, right?” Light chimed in, forcing a huge folder into Junpei’s arms. “It’s a favor for a favor.”

“It’s an interesting case,” Aoi promised, “and it’s real this time.”

“Oh because I’m supposed to believe that,” Junpei said and tried to force Light to take the folder back but was rebuffed. “I’m busy with real clients,” he protested.

“We have real money,” Aoi said.

“I’m available,” Phi said, and Junpei gestured for her to stop talking. “What have you got for me?”

They explained, and once they left Junpei immediately dropped the folder on her desk. “They are your problem this time.”

“Of course. They’re your problem the rest of the time.”

“Happily ever after,” he said sarcastically.


End file.
